Homework Assignment Essay

1.Prepare an analysis of the automobile manufacturing industry using Porter’s five forces framework. For each component force provide support for your conclusion. In addition, at the completion of your analysis provide a conclusion, along with support, of whether you expect the automobile industry to report high or low profitability in the near future. 2. Tremble Company manufactures outdoors wear for women. During 2009, the company reported the following items that affected cash. Required: Indicate whether each of these items is a cash flow from operating activities (O), investing activities (I), or financing activities (F). A. Paid cash for supplies B. Purchased equipment by paying cash C. Collected cash on account from customers D. Paid dividends to stockholders E. Paid suppliers for fabric F. Borrowed money from a bank on a long-term note G. Paid interest to bank on the note H. Paid wages to employees I. Sold shares of common stock to new stockholders 3. The following selected financial data pertain to four companies: a hotel, a travel agency, a meat packing company and a pharmaceutical company. Required: Match each with the financial information and explain why you made your choice as you did. Balance Sheet Data (component percentages)Company 1Company 2Company 3Company 4 Cash7.222.06.011.2 Accounts Receivable28.040.03.423.0 Inventory21.40.50.927.4 Property, Plant & Equipment 32.019.075.125.0 Income Statement Data (component percentages) Gross Profit15.2Not ApplicableNot Applicable44.0 Profit before Taxes1.83.32.57.0 Ratios Current ratio (over the last five years)1.61.30.51.8 Inventory turnover ratio27.8Not ApplicableNot Applicable 3.4 Debt-to-equity ratio1.82.35.81.4 4. Use the current asset section of the balance sheets of the El Paso Company as of January 31, 2012 and 2011 presented below to answer the questions that follow. 2012 2011 Cash and cash equivalents$ 75,000$ 58,800 Trade accounts receivable, net 157,500 193,200 Inventory 208,200 253,400 Other current assets 18,400 15,500 Total current assets$ 459,100$ 520,900 Total assets$2,650,000$3,430,000 Required: (a) In the spaces provided below, complete a Percentage Change analysis of the current asset section of El Paso Company’s balance sheet for 2012, using the following format to provide your answers for the amount of dollar change and the amount of percentage change, rounding â€Å"% Change† to one decimal place, e.g., 8.3%. Accounts$ Change% Change (b) Provide a short evaluation of this analysis.

Final Reflection and Pdp

Final Reflection and PDP Background This reflection paper reflects on themy current performance in regards to study skills. during this first seminar in study skills. This and will demonstrate themy awareness of my learning abilities. Where study skills are concerned, With study skills I've realised that its is important to understand, where you stand in the type of learner you are, how each the different learning skills preferred by indivudals enables individual prefers learn to enable pupils to share their learning experience, for example I may not be a auditory learner and someone else may be a visual learner, so we both can share are experiences of the way each person learns. During these past few months, in both lecturesr and seminar sessions, I've been exposed to discovered various learning styles which hashave enabled me to understandfind out exactly what the type of learner I am. I discovered that Tthere are a number of websites which can aidhelp to figure out in ascertaining the type of learner you are. what sort of learner you are. I conducted several researchresearch by looking up on the websites to figure out what type of learner I was, and I found out that I was an auditory learner. An auditory learner, this defines is a person which who learns best by listening. HoweverDuring my time at University, I' have come across varioues students at GSM doing theon my same course, with different forms of learning styles, includingeither a Visual, KinestheticKinaesthetic, Read and Write, and of course an Auditory learners. From my understanding of being aAn independent learner defines, being is an individual who learns and studiesy for him e or herself, making decisions which will benefit them you as an individual and improve their learning needs, and, as student at a higher level form of education, to become most importantly self-motivated. I believe the most important attributesaims to becoming a successful learner and achieving the best toof your ability areis by the following: 1. Motivation By setting your own aims and objectives, as well as being responsible for your own learning and also setting out challenges and meeting goals. 2. Managing Time Managing Learning how to balance your studies with yourto social life is one of the most important strategiesy to becoming an independent learner. tThis is because, althoughdespite as much as everyone enjoys to having e their a social life, there needs to be a balance between an individual’s studies and social life as failing to do so can lead to failure. should be monitored before being distracted by studies and social life, if not this could lead to failure to the course. ( Moreover, to also understand how you learn best can determine how to revise and study for a particular work. )-dnt know what you trying to say. 3. Reflection Developing on your ability to reflect on your progress, through feedback, enables you determines in which you reflect on every feedback given, to sustain you, to improve better your progress within the course. This pushes you to work harder and correctimprove in any errors which had been made. , its It is equally important to keep a record of any kind of feedback or progress from tutors/peers are kept so that as it can inform you the student what stage of progress you are at. During the semester, how I have performed? I believe during Within the topic of study skill this semester, I think I would rate myself average in regardsdue to the way I have performed. during this semester, tThis is because I' have come across some difficulties to in some of the assignments which have been set within theis seminar classes. What changes have you identified? In my last Due to my last assignment I failed to achieve the grade I wished to. In my initial reflection based on the initial reflection, was the first assignment which was set from study skills, and turn out to under achieve a pass, however this has allowed me to I recognised bmy mistakes and errors. This which had been made to enabled me to work on the things which I need to improve on. I learnt that I needed What I have recognised is to work more on my structuring, focusing more on identifying my real weaknesses which I have in order to improve on for the next semesters. ( expand more on this †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. ) What I learned so far during the semester? -The things you have improved on -Your weaknesses†¦i. e. how you write, whether you have good time management etc. What parts of learning, study and assignment are causing me difficulties? One particular assignment which has caused me difficulties would be the written report. tThis is mainly because, there was not't any sort of guidelines to help us, structure out our report, which would have been useful to us, and would have to given us some format of what to write. , uUnlike with the other modules, where there are is more support with most of the assignments set and there a re classes which canould be attended to help with any difficulties, which we may and I believe with study skills it is more harsh and more to do with more independent learning and doing it on your own, and using ourare own initiative to see whether we understand what goes on in the real world of business. expand more on this †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. ) How can I reflect upon what I am learning or doing and so improve what I do? One of the most important elements to achieving success is In order to succeed, one of the most important element is achievement refers to active involvement in your learning. A very important aspect of a Active learning is the ability to reflect on your work and see whether you are I'm answering the questions properly. When reflecting on my work, I need to consider, how to be responsible I feel for my own learning, how good Ito identify, setting achievable goals and how to be as well as being an active learner. I believe I definitely need to work on all of these to improve in all my assignment set. One way I can start of by reflecting upon what I am learning is by first, understanding how I learn. For example, I prefer to learn through listening and by noticing the type of learner I am would determine my motivation towards my studies. thus I can plan my studies based on this. Finally due to your current performance level and development changes, would you make for the next 4 semesters of your course? I have discovered that I need to make changes in regards to my time management. This is because I find myself procrastinating regularly, for example, leaving assignments to the last minute. I have noticed that this does not help as it means that my work is submitted late and not much effort goes into my assignments. To deal with this I have realised that I need to create sub goals, which are easier to complete, in order to get my assignments done earlier. One way in which I would need to developmake changes in, is by finding myself sometimes procrastinating regularly, when leaving assignment to the last minute, really doesn't help in situations like things when submitting work late or not putting that much effort into your assignments. But I've identified that because I don’t chunk assignments into smaller bits and create sub goals, it doesn't allow me to finish on time, but since procrastinating really leads to failure, things has to change through out the rest of the next semesters. ( expand more on this †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. )

Alexander Graham Bell biography

Alexander Graham Bell, was the inventor of the telephone. Bell was born in Edinburgh on 3 March 1847. He was the son of Melville, a speech and elocution teacher who developed the first International Phonetic Alphabet and Eliza, who was deaf from the age of five. Bell was the only child to survive into adulthood, with his younger and elder brothers, Ted and Melly, dying of tuberculosis. These biographical facts foretell the strong values, personality and determination of the man destined to radically change the preferred mode of long distance communications to voice, and thus transform virtually all aspects of modern life.Bell developed a passion for communication from a young age. He was to become an extraordinary man with a visionary understanding of its power and potential. Educated at the universities of Edinburgh and London, Bell immigrated to the US in 1870. In his twenties, he set about developing a multiple telegraph that could send several Morse code messages. In 1872, Bell s tarted attending MIT’s public lectures on experimental mechanics, including one in October by Professor Charles R. Cross that began a long, fruitful collaboration.At the talk, Cross demonstrated a device invented by his colleague Edward C. Pickering, who then chaired MIT’s physics department. At the time of Cross’s lecture, MIT (which had been incorporated in 1861 on the Boston side of the Charles River) had recently opened the Rogers Laboratory of Physics in a new building on Boylston Street. The facility was the first of its kind in the United States, a well-outfitted working laboratory that allowed students to conduct experiments illustrating the physical laws they learned about in class.Of particular interest to Bell, the new laboratory had an impressive set of equipment identical to that used in the path breaking work of Hermann von Helmholtz, one of the world’s leading acoustical researchers. In 1873, Bell accepted a position as a professor of vocal physiology and elocution at the fledgling Boston University (which had been chartered in 1869). The post drew him into even closer contact with Boston’s scientific community, affording him the chance to get better acquainted with Professor Cross, who would eventually succeed Pickering as chair of MIT’s physics department.In April 1874, after Bell addressed MIT students and faculty about his acoustical studies and his eff orts to teach the deaf to speak, Cross—apparently impressed—granted him unfettered access to the Institute’s facilities for his further research. Bell seized the opportunity. Of course, Bell won his patent claim as the sole inventor of the telephone, and public knowledge about the contributions of others mostly faded into oblivion.The many surviving primary documents from the period, however, leave little doubt of the important supporting role that Cross and the Rogers Laboratory played in helping Bell gain vital, detailed, and of ten hands-on knowledge about the cutting-edge work of others in the field, including Pickering, Helmholtz, Reis, and Elisha Gray, the inventor whose path breaking design for a liquid transmitter Bell seems to have appropriated to make his world-famous call to Watson. Many years later, with Bell’s legal claim to the telephone long since secured, he publicly acknowledged Cross’s contribution.Bell told the crowd of 1,500 assembled at Symphony Hall for MIT’s 50th-anniversary gala—and more than 5,000 alumni and guests who were listening in by phone at Alumni Association gatherings across the country—that Cross had not only made â€Å"many advances in the telephone itself † but inspired many students to â€Å"go forth from the Institute to perfect the work. † On 7 March 1876, Bell patented the telephone (Patent 174,465) at the tender age of 29. On March 10, 1876, Bell supposedly knocked over the battery acid he and Watson were using as tran smitting liquid for early telephone tests, and shouted, â€Å"Mr.Watson, come here; I want you. † Watson, working in the next room, heard Bell’s voice through the wire. Bell introduced the telephone to the world at the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia in 1876. In 1877, Bell formed the Bell Telephone Company. He later sued Western Union over patent infringement of his telephone copyright, and won. In the 1880s, Bell used his considerable fortune to establish research laboratories to work with deaf people. Helen Keller was among his many students.Bell, though, was able to translate his exceptional values into his private life. He lobbied the cause of deaf people and to establish day schools for them throughout the US. When he set out on this challenge, only 40 per cent of deaf children were taught to speak. At the time of his death in 1922 the figure was 80 per cent — testimony enough in itself to his leadership qualities. Like all exceptional leaders, Bell m ade himself accessible to all. He encouraged one family — the Kellers — to educate their little girl Helen, who was deaf.She later attended the Boston Museum of fine arts and became a highly successful commercial artist. Employers today can learn much from Bell's great achievements — nurture ideas, encourage innovation and pursue developments, however radical they might seem at the time. Likewise, there remains a need today for companies to accept and foster their links and social responsibilities within the communities in which they operate and beyond. Bell proved that leaders and business can create the circumstances to improve our quality of life.In researching this article, I have grown to respect the great depth and leadership qualities of Alexander Graham Bell, a hugely successful entrepreneur and a great humanitarian. While telephones, fax, mobiles, text messaging, and the like may sometimes drive you mad, they have undoubtedly revolutionised the world fo r the better, and it can all be traced back to the leadership and vision of one man. Bell is the greatest creator ever of shareholder value and an inspirational figure for the to the cause of the â€Å"children of a lesser God† — it must earn him the title of Greatest Briton in Management and Leadership.Other Bell inventions include an electric probe, a device used to locate bullets and other metal objects in the human body, and the vacuum jacket, which when placed around the chest, administered artificial respiration. He’s also credited with inventions related to the iron lung and triangular aircraft wings. In 1898, Bell became the president of National Geographic because he believed that geography could be taught through pictures. Bell’s fascination with aeronautics led to his â€Å"hydrodrome† boat, a vessel that traveled above the water at high speeds.The hydrodrome reached speeds in excess of 70 mph, and for many years was the fastest boat in the world. Bell died August 2, 1922, in Nova Scotia, Canada But unlike so many great pioneers and inventors, Bell followed through, visualizing the future and realizing the potential of his remarkable invention. Shortly after the invention of the telephone, Bell had told his father: â€Å"The day is coming when telegraph wires will be laid on to houses, just like water or gas†¦ and friends will converse with each other without leaving home. How right he was.Remember this prediction was at a time when the telephone was in its infancy and its full potential was far from recognized. Bell's invention changed for good the way people live their lives. Telephones and telephone lines have enabled us to network global companies via computers, make transactions electronically, or simply talk to our loved ones to let them know all is well, wherever in the world we might be at the time. The telephone is not only capable of transmitting voice, but also of transmitting emotion and, therefor e, allows us to communicate not only what we are thinking but how we feel.In a stroke of genius, Bell shrank the world and transformed the lives of the citizens of his country of birth and education, Great Britain, and, indeed, the lives of people around the world. Like many great people, Bell appeared to benefit from luck and skill in equal measure, and it was while he was trying to develop multiple morse code that he stumbled on the concept that speech could be reproduced through sound waves in a continuous undulating current. This truly brilliant discovery is the principle behind the telephone.Steven Paul Jobs was born in San Francisco on February 24, 1955 to two university students, Joanne Carole Schieble and Syrian-born Abdulfattah â€Å"John† Jandali (Arabic: ), who were both unmarried at the time. [32] Jandali, who was teaching in Wisconsin when Steve was born in 1955, said he had no choice but to put the baby up for adoption because his girlfriend's family objected to their relationship. [33] The baby was adopted at birth by Paul Reinhold Jobs (1922–1993) and Clara Jobs (1924–1986), an Armenian-American[3] whose maiden name was Hagopian. 34] Later, when asked about his â€Å"adoptive parents,† Jobs replied emphatically that Paul and Clara Jobs â€Å"were my parents. â€Å"[35] He stated in his authorized biography that they â€Å"were my parents 1,000%. â€Å"[36] Unknown to him, his biological parents would subsequently marry (December 1955), have a second child Mona Simpson in 1957, and divorce in 1962. [36] The Jobs family moved from San Francisco to Mountain View, California when Steve was five years old. [1][2] The parents later adopted a daughter, Patti.Paul was a machinist for a company that made lasers, and taught his son rudimentary electronics and how to work with his hands. [1] The father showed Steve how to work on electronics in the family garage, demonstrating to his son how to take apart and rebuild elec tronics such as radios and televisions. As a result, Steve became interested in and developed a hobby of technical tinkering. [37] Clara was an accountant[35] who taught him to read before he went to school. [1] Clara Jobs had been a payroll clerk for Varian Associates, one of the first high-tech firms in what became known as Silicon Valley. 38] Jobs was an intelligent and innovative thinker, but his youth was riddled with frustrations over formal schooling. At Monta Loma Elementary school in Mountain View, he was a prankster whose fourth-grade teacher needed to bribe him to study. Jobs tested so well, however, that administrators wanted to skip him ahead to high school—a proposal his parents declined. [39] Jobs then attended Cupertino Junior High and Homestead High School in Cupertino, California. [2] At Homestead, Jobs became friends with Bill Fernandez, a neighbor who shared the same interests in electronics.Fernandez introduced Jobs to another, older computer whiz kid, St ephen Wozniak (also known as â€Å"Woz†). In 1969 Woz started building a little computer board with Fernandez that they named â€Å"The Cream Soda Computer†, which they showed to Jobs; he seemed really interested. [40] Jobs frequented after-school lectures at the Hewlett-Packard Company in Palo Alto, California, and was later hired there, working with Wozniak as a summer employee. [41] Following high school graduation in 1972, Jobs enrolled at Reed College in Portland, Oregon. Reed was an expensive college which Paul and Clara could ill afford.They were spending much of their life savings on their son’s higher education. [40] Jobs dropped out of college after six months and spent the next 18 months dropping in on creative classes. [42] He continued auditing classes at Reed while sleeping on the floor in friends' dorm rooms, returning Coke bottles for food money, and getting weekly free meals at the local Hare Krishna temple. [43] Jobs later said, â€Å"If I had never dropped in on that single calligraphy course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fontsSteve Jobs introduced in 1988, was an even more expensive marvel of hardware and software design; it at-tracted even fewer customers. Today, Windows running on Intel-compatible chips remains the most common software platform for per-sonal computers (though cellphones far outsell PCs and have become the dominant mode of computing). But Mi-crosoft has introduced only incremen-tal innovations, following the path set by the Macintosh more than 25 years ago. And Android-based smartphones and tablets, which rely on Google s free and open operating system, follow the lead of the iPhone and the iPad.My point is that Microsoft, Intel, and Google have taken the usual route to platform leadership, with inexpen-sive or free products, relatively open viewpoints interfaces, and extensive efforts to cul-tivate a broad ecosystem of partners. But Jobs and Appl e have shown us an-other path to platform leadership, and not just for a niche product segment: Design breakthrough products that set new standards for form, function, and aesthetics; market them creatively and aggressively, with some modest reduc-tions in price over time; open them up gradually as industrywide platforms, and let the chips fall where they may.Jobs wanted Apple to create computers that would be as elegant and simple to use as a type-writer or even a toaster. Now, looking back, we can see that every product Jobs championed, whether or not it succeed-ed commercially, set new standards for aesthetics as well as utility, such as in ease-of-use or handling graphics and multimedia. What stands out most to me are the ultra-simple, intuitive user interfaces of the Macintosh (GUI plus mouse, albeit invented earlier at the Stanford Research Institute and Xerox PARC) and then the iPod s clickwheel and the iPhone and iPad touchscreens.Today s PCs, digital media players, smartpho nes, and tablets based on Windows or even Android are as good as they are only because of how much Steve Jobs and Apple raised the bar for everyone. Charisma and Leadership In the 1996 PBS documentary, Tri-umph of the Nerds, Larry Tesler, who used to work at Apple, discussed how Steve Jobs was able to inspire people to surpass what even they believed they could accomplish. He would never settle for anything less than someone s absolutely best effort, and then some.That is how Jobs raised the bar for the Macintosh project whose competi-tion was the character-based IBM PC and compatibles and many products since then, most recently the iPad. As Steve Jobs moved forward in his career, he also brought related but formerly distinct technologies and businesses together. In fact, he felt compelled to shed the historic Apple Computer name in 2007 in favor of Apple, Inc. to reflect the broader set of aspirations that he and the company had adopted.It is instructive again to compare Jobs and A pple with Gates and Microsoft. Gates main entrepreneurial legacy has been to create a mass-mar-ket software products company that continues to print money and ex-ploit those remarkable gross margins of packaged software , Jobs solved an extremely vexing problem for the industry and for consumers: how to price digital content in the form of music, video clips, movies, and TV pro-grams. This innovation in digital servic-es is no less profound than Steve Jobs innovations in consumer products. he master Strategist Early observers of Jobs and Apple, in-cluding myself, underestimated his ability to master the business side of technology. Clearly, over time, Jobs got better at this much better perhaps as the world caught up to what he was trying to do. Two incidents stand out. First, when he rejoined Apple in 1996, the firm was practically bankrupt, with only a few months of cash left. But Jobs got a $150 million investment from archrival Microsoft as well as a commitment from Bill Gates t hat Microsoft would continue to produce Office for the Mac.This agreement was critical to maintain the Macintosh business, then the only real source of revenue for Apple. Second, in 2005, Jobs abandoned his 20-year commitment to the Motorola micro-processor and adopted archrival Intel s technology. This move helped bridge the growing cost-performance gap with Windows PCs, and enabled the Macin-tosh to continue as a second platform that was also much more interoperable with the Windows world.

MGT499 Mod 1 Case - Harley Davidson Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

MGT499 Mod 1 Case - Harley Davidson - Coursework Example I believe to a very large degree that indeed the company Harley Davidson is currently proceeding towards its Mission, Vision and values. Given the threats the company has managed to survive quite a number of cares and threats that have come along its way over the years, I believe that the contemporary days are no different. The company has managed to trend over numerous threats over the years in the motorcycling industry. One of the hugest threats was posed by the introduction of the assembling mode of production by Henry Ford in the US. This produced at a very first and effective rate that Harley Davidson found very hard to cope with. It however braced itself and rose to the occasion. At the end of the day, the firm managed to pull through the ordeal. Harley Davidson is currently venturing very strongly in internet marketing. It has put a lot of effort and dedication towards meeting clients on the internet and making big its sells through the exploitation of internet options. This i s squarely in line with the well laid out missions, visions and values that it steadfastly holds. By increasing its market share through the internet, the firm is poised to make it big in the industry. It shall with no doubt manage to survive all the imminent threats that are posed on it. It shall also manage to survive much longer in the market without faltering or succumbing to pressure through achieving its visions, missions and values. One of the major missions of the company Harley Davidson is cost reductions. The company strives towards obtaining the most economical modes of production which demand less investment to be able to pull through. This shall go a long way in ensuring that the company is able to beat its competition effectively in the market and shall also see to it that it survives in the market for much longer. Another mission of the company is to provide sustainable and reliable motorbikes to the world. It has managed to stretch its throngs though out the expanse of the US and it aim at making it throughout the globe. The vision of the firm is to be a hub of innovation. It envisions itself innovating new technologies that can conquer the market. This is geared towards saving the world from motorbike accidents and increasing cruising powers, speeds and efficiency of the motorbikes. This shall be essential in eliminating any detriments and keeping the prospects of the company alive for much longer. The company also envisions itself producing at much faster speeds than the current rate of production. There comes some times when there is limited supply in the market and the production speed shall come in handy. The missions, visions and values of Harley Davidson ogre well with the stakeholders of the firm. The reduction in the costs of production means that the consumers shall be able to have their beloved products delivered at a very limited price. Another advantage to the stakeholders is the fact that by increased rates of production, the comp any shall be able to meet the required supply and hence shall not lose the any clients to the competition in the market. Through this, the firm shall be sustained for long. This shall offer security to the employees as well as to the shareholders right onto the firm. Through innovation, the firm shall not only be able to beat the competition in the market, it shall also be able to provide sustainable motorcycling products to the consumers. It shall live much longer in the market and be fruitful to both the employees and the shareholders.

Marketing decisions ,case study Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Marketing decisions ,case study - Coursework Example However, the organization of Calyx and Corolla presented catalogues of flowers of four colors, so as to make the appropriate selection by the customers. However, by viewing the catalogues, the customers might easily order them as per their preferences and the order reaches the growers of C&C network immediately. Then, the grower picks and parcels the ordered flowers to the destination with the help of FedEx. Therefore, the customers might get the exact type of flower bouquets or fresh flowers within a very small period of time. Thus, this strategy of catalogue marketing acts as a catalyst for the organization of Calyx and Corolla that amplifies the reliability and trust of the customers. Moreover, due to improvement of the reliability, the brand value and profitability of the organization of Calyx and Corolla increased to a significant extent as compared to many other rival players such as FTD Florists. Furthermore, in order to implement the concept of catalogue marketing in an effec tive way, information technology is used within the organization of Calyx and Corolla. Therefore, due to the implementation of information technology, the range of customers increased that amplified its demand and brand image in the market among many other rival players. Besides, utilization of the strategy of catalogue marketing, the level of relationship with the customers enhanced to a significant extent that increased its portfolio and uniqueness in the market as compared to many other existing contenders. In addition, the organization of Calyx and Corolla also tried to offer varied colored fresh flowers to its customers at a quite competitive price. This strategy proved extremely effective for the organization that amplified its customer base and demand in the market as compared to many other rival players. Moreover, the organization of Calyx and Corolla used the

Fashion and Muslim Traditional Dress Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Fashion and Muslim Traditional Dress - Essay Example The essay "Fashion and Muslim Traditional Dress" discovers the fashion in the context of Muslim Traditions. Muslim women are trying to be saved by both external and internal cultures. Western society seeks to liberate Muslim women from the shackles of oppression and bring them into a world where they have opportunities, but would be vulnerable without the protections offered in Muslim culture. Muslim cultures are attempting to shield women from Western values that objectify the body and strip from them their protections that define their status in Muslim society. Clothing is an integral part of how women are defined by both societies. Western societies see ‘the veil’ as a symbol of oppression while a Muslim woman who is inappropriately dressed loses respect and status within her community. The following paper will examine the position of Muslim female dress in modern contexts. The development of fashion that is acceptable outside of the Muslim community comes into confli ct with the purpose of dress within that community. Through innovative and creative design, fashion for Muslim women is becoming modernized while retaining its modest purpose. In defining female dress for modern contexts, the nature of fashion and Muslim tradition comes together to place women of Muslim into relationship with modern ideals while retaining elements of tradition that are important for Muslim identity. While female Muslim dress has a specific purpose as a representation of faith and adherence to tradition and law.

Public Policy Initiative Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Public Policy Initiative - Essay Example Another important factor is the rapid population growth which contributes more to the economic problem of scarcity and towards the selection of a public policy that has to fairly deal with all the related aspects. The next major aspect to be considered while designing a policy is the context of job development in the ever increasing global society. This containment should not only fulfill the white collar attitude instead it should look forth on a relatively larger scale thus improving upon efficiency and equity. The main critic on this approach is that in a perfectly competitive environment there can be a case that a firm might enable itself to drive away all other competitors thereby becoming a natural monopoly is an exception owing to the absence of the required many sellers that would set the so-called invisible hand of competition in motion1. To our concern and knowledge Adam Smith's laissez faire theory relies on this hidden hand to attain efficiency in markets. Why it is important is just because in an ideally competitive economy every firm tries to maximize social profits i.e. the concept of deriving maximum utility out of each resource or profit maximization, this could be called as the net benefits consumers and producers receive from participation in markets. Why to support Weimer and Vining is because there are a number of factors that make the Free Market approach much more effective than (government) regulated markets. They are; Production-motivation/Capital-attraction this means that there are just adequate monetary remunerations that make these economic agents to fulfill the customer demand at a desired price and this is well termed as the production-motivation. Through this approach, the supplier tends to keep on producing the desired product and eventually he tries to expand the scale for further remuneration thereby adding more to his incentives for profit maximization that is achieved by "economies of scale". Efficiency2 ensures that goods & services are provided at the lowest possible cost. Again, the concept is that the supplier tries to minimize cost and maximize sustainable profit. Demand Control & Consumer Rationing is essential to avoid waste of resources, this means that the market system can effectively limit consumption by individuals and only those who can afford enjoy the fruits. But this well leads to a failure as well because the market system fails to provide with some necessities that are termed as public goods as these do not provide with any fruitful remuneration to the producer so they are avoided within the market constraint. The rationing mechanism however allows the level of prices to achieve what economists call as the only real economic function of prices that have the ability to influence the

China Economic Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

China Economic Development - Essay Example Chinese leader during this period attempted to transfer the heart of agriculture from traditional farming to household activities (Roche, 2010). These reforms extended to price liberalization, in a more gradual way. It became followed by fiscal decentralization (Roche, 2010). Also as part of the undergoing reforms, business enterprises managed by the state became granted independence. This means that, all the government officials found at the local levels and also managers of a number of plants had more authority (Roche, 2010). This led to the development of a number of privately owned firms within the service producing sector, together with the manufacturing sectors (Roche, 2010). Chinese banking system became diversified, and the country’s stock markets began to rise as the country’s economic reforms took hold (Roche, 2010). China began growing at a rapid pace because of these existing reforms and widely opened the shut doors of its economy to the entire globe for tra de opportunities and direct more foreign investment (Roche, 2010). As a nation, it has undertaken a slow but sure method in implementing all of its economic reforms (Roche, 2010). The country has sold the equity of a number of the country’s state banks to foreign companies and also bond markets. Its role in the international market has also grown over the years (Roche, 2010). China's Global Economy The economy of China witnessed some radical transformations after Deng Xiaoping took charge in 1978 (Roche, 2010). The country has transformed from being a highly centrally planned economy to an open economy from his era (Roche, 2010). The country has now transformed to a leading power house for the world’s economy over the past ten years. In Roche’s... this paper tells that China has also a well developed transport and railway network running throughout the country. The country has developed expressways making the container transportation effective. By late 2006, the country had six provinces with close to 2000 (km) of expressway. Also, the length of the country’s railway system is over 77 000 (km), ranking it third in the globe, next to America and Russia. Nevertheless, Japan has a more advanced and well maintained infrastructure, which undergoes regular and constant upgrading and expansion. According to Roche, the country’s private and public sectors take the responsibility of a number of infrastructural services and operate them efficiently. Japan posses a remarkably extensive and highly modern road network that consists of around 1,152,207 kilometers of highways, and 6,114 kilometers of expressways. The length of the rail network in Japan is 23,670 kilometers. More than half of Japan’s rail network is elect rified. The country is also famous for its high-speed trains. The country also has extensive and modern sea and air transport systems. The country’s communication system is also highly advanced consisting of both the public and private providers. To sum up, this paper says that China posses massive sea ports that have the most influential gateways for its foreign trade. Going by the recent record, China ranks first globally in terms of cargo through put by its weight and also by the high numbers of containers it handles.

Interconnection of Parental Psychological Support, Self-Efficacy and Dissertation

Interconnection of Parental Psychological Support, Self-Efficacy and Self-Regulated Learning for Elementary School Students - Dissertation Example They are able to take decisions that would help them achieve the said goals and turn to adults when they need inputs. Children are not born with such internalized educational goals, and it is necessary to provide them with the appropriate environment that will help them to internalize the desire to succeed and the ability to set personal goals (Ryan & Deci, 2000). Such an environment may be provided by parents and the school, though parents play a more important role as compared to the teachers or the school (Soenens & Vansteenkiste, 2005). Children learn to respond to rules and targets set down by parents early in their lives. Parents are a primary source of information, discipline and appreciation for young children, and they quickly learn to internalize the goals and attitudes that gain them appreciation and affection form the parents. This makes it important that parents present the child with experiences that help to develop the qualities that they require in order to succeed. O ne such set of behaviors and attitudes have been discussed by the Self Determination Theory, a macro theory that attempts to explain human decisions, choices and behaviors in terms of the source of motivation. 2.1 Self Determination Theory The term self – determination was initially coined to describe political and philosophical perspectives on the nature of the State and it’s governance (Price, Wolensky, & Mulligan, 2002)and the attributes of the Person and was used to some extent in Psychology to describe the way humans viewed themselves (Wehmeyer, 1999). The Psychological perspective was developed through the late 20th century by Deci and Ryan (1985), who have defined Self Determination as â€Å"A quality of human functioning that involves the experience of choice, in other words, the experience of an internal perceived locus of causality; it is the capacity as well to choose and to have those choices, rather than reinforcement contingencies, drives, or any other f orces or pressures, be the determinants of one’s actions.†(p. 38). Self Determination Theory has been studied by a number of researchers, and has been developed as an explanation of human motivation, behavior and personality (Niemiec & Ryan, 2009; Ryan & Deci, 2000). It assumes that a human being is by nature active, curious, interested in events, self motivated and desirous of success since the experience of success is a satisfying and rewarding experience that reinforces itself (Deci & Ryan, 2008a). Initial work on Self Determination Theory started in the 1970’s and was refined by Deci and Ryan (1985; 2008b) in the 1980’s. The last few decades have seen tremendous work in Self Determination Theory, and various researchers have applied it’s principles to various areas of human functioning like health (Deci & Ryan, 2008b), parenting (Joussemet, et al., 2008), work (Frederic Guay, Senecal, Gauthier, & Fernet, 2003), sport (Standage, Duda, & Ntoumanis , 2005), education (Deci, Vallerand, Pelletier, & Ryan, 1991), psychotherapy (Ryan & Deci, 2008). Although Self determination is neither absolute control, nor to be confused with success (Wehmeyer, 1998); it does involve the person’s ability to make choices that is autonomous of the influence of others. It is important not to confuse self determination with either self sufficiency or self reliance as Self Determination

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Essay Example for Free

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Essay In the early 1960’s there was a drift towards Cognitive Behavior Therapy as people turned away out of disappointment in the psychodynamic theory for psychotherapy. Also at this time social learning theory was the new and upcoming study. This is when Cognitive theory emerged with Alfred Adler. He was the first Cognitive therapist who came up with the idea that an individuals beliefs and ideas is what makes up their behavior (Lantz, 1996). He believed that this type of psychotherapy would allow the clients to make changes in the way they think to change their behavior and solve their problems. Alfred Adler was not the only contributor to Cognitive theory. Between the late 1950’s and early 1960’s Albert Ellis came up with dysfunctional thinking or emotions that come from irrational beliefs. He sought out to change these unclear emotions with psychotherapy and by challenging these beliefs. His books are very well known and used a lot of by different therapist. He is basically considered the grandfather of Cognitive Behavior Therapy and his ABC model is used widely. Albert came up with Rational-emotive therapy, which was later on changed to Rational-emotive behavior therapy because Ellis wanted his clients to act upon their new beliefs by putting them into practice (Wilde, 1996, p. 9). Others who have contributed to Cognitive theory have been William Glasser, Arnold Lazarus, Don Tosi, Victor Ramy, Maxie Maultsby, Aron Beck and many more. William Glasser used effective psychotherapy to help his clients find courage to change their life style and become more responsible of their goals. He did this by pointing out the worth of self and the basic human need to be loved. His ‘reality therapy’ consisted of his clients focusing on personal responsibility to understand their own reality (Lantz, 1996). Arnold Lazarus came up with the seven modes of the client that help assess their functioning. These seven modes are sensation, imagery, cognition, behavior affect, interpersonal living and drugs (Lantz, 1996). These modes, according to Lazarus, would help come up with a treatment plan that would help the client in all areas of their function lives. Don Tosi contributed to Cognitive theory by intergrading hypnosis with the therapy. Hypnosis is used to help the clients picture their thoughts in a healthy way through exploration and redirection (Lantz, 1996). Victor Ramy focused his work on helping clients change their self-concept. His books show how to help a client work with and change the cognitive misunderstanding of themselves. Maxie Maultsby used the ABC model as used by Albert Ellis but he also contributed by using rational behavior therapy with youngsters, for self-help groups, and group therapy. Aron Beck was a psychiatrist who used cognitive treatment to help his clients who had anxiety and personality disorders. He did extensive research on effective Cognitive therapy and how it helps clients with a range of individual problems from suicidal patients to those who have borderline personality disorders. Many of those who contributed to Cognitive therapy were not social workers. The first social worker that used Cognitive therapy was Harold Werner. Werner struggled early on when he tried to bring Cognitive therapy to social work as those who had a psychoanalytical point of view attacked him. His efforts allowed the theory to be accepted in the social work arena. Howard Goldstein also helped bring Cognitive therapy into the social work profession. Behavior theory is a mixture of different theories combined and it first came about in the first quarter of this century. The work of Ivan Pavlov and his classical conditioning theory, the work of B.F. Skinner and J.B. Watson and their operant condition theory and the work of Bandura on the social learning theory is all combined in the behavior theory. The classical conditioning theory states that a conditioned stimulus can cause a conditioned response with the famous example of Pavlov and the salivating dog. This is a behavior that is learned and that can be used to help clients during therapy especially those who have anxiety disorders. The operant conditioning uses human behavior and examines it. Skinner believed that behavior was measurable and that certain situations cause human to react is certain ways. Once these behaviors are learned through the scientific method we can predetermine a clients actions and help them with either negative or positive reinforcements. This will either increase or decrease the client’s behavior depending on if the behavior is punished or positively reinforced. In the late 60’s is when behavior theory became a front-runner with clinical social work. At this time the psychodynamic theories were under attack and a new theories were sought out. Social learning theory focuses on using the ABC model that Albert Ellis used to help clients. This involves finding the antecedents, target behaviors, and consequence in ones problematic behavior. Antecedents is what the client was doing before the situation occurred, target behavior is the behavior that needs to be changed or focused on and the consequence is the result because of their target behavior (Thomlison Thomlison, 1996). These three are analyzed to figure out what needs to change in the behavior to get an alternate positive consequence or to see how the situation can be avoided. Principles and Concepts: There are four basic concepts to Cognitive theory. The first uses Albert Ellis’s ABC model to deal with the emotions we feel and the way we think about our situations and ourselves. The ABC model helps us identify our thoughts and then helps us control our emotions (Lantz, 1996). If what we are thinking during a situation is irrational then our emotions are going to be uncontrollable and irrational also. If we have rational thoughts then our emotions will be functional. If our trigger behavior causes irrational emotions then we need to find rational emotions to replace the irrational belief (Wilde, 1996, p. 33). The second basic concept to Cognitive theory is that these irrational beliefs are in our unconscious and we are not aware of them. This may make it difficult to find out what the thoughts are and why we have dysfunctional emotions. To help our clients notice their irrational beliefs we have to allow them to learn misconceptions about themselves so they are more aware of their thoughts. Irrational believes lead to illogical emotions, which causes the client to react in an unreasonable way, but there are exactions to these types of situation, which is basic concept three (Lantz, 1996). Sometimes the way we feel has nothing to do with our irrational beliefs. What we are feeling is really true or there could be a neurological or other health problem, which can make an individual feel down or angry or upset. A disparity in the brain chemistry can cause dysfunctional emotions. Lastly all irrational emotions are not always dysfunctional which means a rational belief can be dysfunctional also. A client might get sort of ‘high’ or excited from something dangerous such as a gun. Playing with a gun might give a client a feeling of excitement and happiness but it is not safe to play with guns. Feeling happy or excited is not considered a dysfunctional emotion but in this case we would have to teach the client about the misconception in their mind that playing with guns is safe or fun. Cognitive theory allows a person to recognize their environment and their situation both physically and communally and it allows them to work through and change it (Lantz, 1996). A basic concept to Behavior theory is that all behavior is learned and that individual have problematic behaviors. According to Skinner our social problems can be measured through our behavior. By changing the environment and reinforcing the client with either positive reinforcement or negative reinforcement we can get them to change their behavior. The stimuli from the reinforcement will allow the client to either change or remove the behavior (Thomlison Thomlison, 1996). Social learning theory, which involves the ABC model, shows us how behavior can change for the better. Similarities and Differences: The biggest similarity between Cognitive theory and Behavior theory is the intertwining of the Social Learning Theory. They both use the ABC model and look at the antecedents, behaviors, and consequences of each situation. With Cognitive theory, the trigger behavior comes with an irrational belief that needs to be changed. Clients often times have irrational beliefs during their behavior. After the consequence takes place the ABC model will help us show them their irrational beliefs and teach them that with a rational belief a different consequence could have taken place. With Behavior theory a similar pattern is used. The problem is identified and the target behavior is observed by the social worker other wise known as ‘behavior analysis’ (Thomlison Thomlison, 1996). The social worker then works with the clients on changing both the antecedents and the consequences to attain a different behavior. Changing the antecedent is known as manipulating the environment condition (Streff, Geller, 1986). The antecedent is changed to increase a positive behavior in the situation. The consequence is used as reinforcement either positive or negative. The reinforcement allows for a change in behavior. The difference between the two theories is that one focuses on the beliefs and emotions that one has about themselves and the behavior that comes from these beliefs and the other focuses on problematic behavior and the reinforcements that change this type of behavior. Behavior therapy uses both positive and negative reinforcements and Cognitive therapy focuses on eliminating the negative behavior or emotion and replacing it with positive rational behavior. A belief scale that serves as a measure from one to ten, is used to see how irrational the clients beliefs really are (Watson, Morris, Miller, 2001). With Behavior therapy reinforcements are used to encourage clients but with Cognitive therapy rational beliefs are used to encourage clients. The clients are questioned on their beliefs and often times humor is used to show the clients how irrational their beliefs can be (Wilde, 1996, p. 61). A limitation of behavior therapy is that reinforcement don’t always work for everyone. A stimulus for reinforcing someone depends on that person’s perception of the stimulus (Wilde, 1996, p. 18). If an individual is having behavior problems and the negative reinforcement is to stay after school, the individual might not think of it as negative reinforcement if they don’t like going home. Their situation at home might be worse then staying after school for detention. Another issue is that behavior theory only deals with the exterior of the problem and does not investigate the deep down root of the problem. Because behavior therapy doesn’t focus on the internal process of the client, the reinforcements are only successful if they bring change in the client’s life for the better. Although Cognitive theory may look at the root of the problem by focusing on automatic thoughts and core beliefs, it also has limitations. It is argued that Cognitive theory only looks at the problem for that one situation that occurs. One incident takes place where the client has inappropriate behavior with irrational beliefs (Atherton, 2007). Other aspects of the client’s life may or may not come up while discovering their irrational beliefs. Another issue is that with Cognitive theory, treatment is not emphasized with family members, the environment, and other interventions (Lantz, 1996). Both theories are culturally sensitive and work with all different backgrounds. Because different races and cultures have different social misconceptions, irrational beliefs may vary from culture to culture; but all cultures have irrational beliefs (Lantz, 1996). What is considered positive or negative reinforcements in one culture may not be considered so in another culture. These types of things vary but both types of therapy work with all different sorts of people. Both theories are compatible with the NASW code of ethics. Cognitive therapy and Behavior therapy both value the client and humanity. Cognitive therapists emphasize the use for rational thinking, which is not only for the client but also for society. The worth of the client is maintained and it is important to make sure that the client doesn’t feel threatened or ashamed by these techniques and it is up to the social worker to maintain these techniques. Blending The Two Theories: Research shows that when blending Cognitive therapy with Behavior therapy there are no proven results that the outcome is better for the client right away. The research does show however that there are more long term results when combining the two theories as apposed to just using one therapy or the other (Thomlison Thomlison, 1996). Behavior theorists such as Skinner argue that when combining Cognitive theory to Behavior theory, the focus on behavior gets diverted and so the therapy is not as effective. Research is not conclusive on this matter but it shows that efficacy to the therapy depends on the problem that the client is having. As time goes on most social workers use Cognitive Behavior Therapy and not just one or the other. By blending the two theories we can focus on the client’s behavior, reinforce their positive behaviors and allow them to recognize their ideas and beliefs about their behavior to allow them to make rational choices and have rational emotions.

Introversion and Creativity

Introversion and Creativity Introversion- The Stairway to the Horizon of Creativity In the essay The Rise of the New Groupthink (Published on January 13, 2012), Susan Cain raises the awareness that the rise of group working is gradually replacing independent working even though it is very important in everyones life. By which, lead us to a world where group brainstorming sessions are now the new trend and private thinking is old-fashioned. Susan Cain is an American writer, a lecturer, a best selling author of a book about introversion in 2012 who has difficulties speaking in public and through those difficulties, developed an interest in writing about introversion. Her essay The Rise of the New Groupthink has opened up a whole new perspective about how important introversion is, and how underappreciated it has been over the years. Through my experiences, I support Cains idea that solitude and introversion are important to everyones life and there should be a balance between solitude and group thinking, not just give all the favor to group thinking and completely lef t out introversion. After researching various studies of psychologists, Cain stands on the side of introversion, stating that it is an important factor for creativity and thoughts. And according to another one of her article The Rise of the New Groupthink and the Power of Working Alone she uses a typical day in the life of Mr. Steve Wozniak, the co-founder of Apple, as a valuable example. Most of Wozniaks work came from all the time and hard work of inside his cubicle at Hewlett-Packard. Hed arrive alone around 6:30 am, early in the morning, read building magazines, and examine chip manuals, making plans, setting up designs in his mind. After work, hed go home, make a speedy spaghetti or Microwavable meal, then drive back to the workplace and work even until it passes midnight. He describes this period of quiet midnights and solitary early morning as the biggest high ever. Steve Wozniak is one of the biggest names there is when it comes to introverted geniuses. As seeing Steve Wozniak as a valuable exam ple, Cain acknowledges the importance of introversion and how it can be a tremendous help in peoples work and creativity. Also, she states two main reasons that help strengthen her acknowledgements and make it even more solid. Those two main reasons are the long-time bond between introversion with creativity and peoples productivity. First of all, solitude has long been related with creativity. Through Rise of the New Groupthink Cain solidify her idea by examining the research of two psychologists Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and Gregory Feist, from which states that most creative people from many different fields are usually introverts. This is probably because that introverted people are happy with working alone, and just by being alone can they increase their creativity and innovativeness. This idea of Cain speaks to me pretty well because when I was young, I actually experiences just how important solitude is for an introverted person. My uncle is a game programmer, not a big shot in the business, but he has been working in a pretty steady job in a company named Ubisoft. He loves introversion more than anything else when hes working. He got tons of projects to work on all the time, but he never works with anyone, he said that he cant work or generates any ideas when he has to work in a group. And I actually witnes s it when he took me to work one day. When brainstorming with a group, he cannot concentrates due to a lot of different ideas, opinions from the co-worker. But after that is over, and hes back to his cubicle, his creativity just like come back and his assigned task was done with great rating from every co-worker for the new ideas and creativity of the game. Through my uncle experience, introversion has proven to be an essential factor and a crucial ingredient for creativity. At the same time, introversion and solitude are strongly relate with the need of privacy. Surprisingly, privacy plays a huge part in increasingly productivity. By having privacy, one can feels the comfortable and freedom from distraction that raise their focus, and, therefore increase their productivity. From a rather interesting study known as the Coding War Games, from the work of more than 600 computer programmers at 92 companies, consultants Tom DeMarco and Timothy Lister compared among them and they found that from the same companies, the workers performed at roughly the same level with each other. However, between organization, there a huge gap! And just what made that huge gap? It was the privacy, personal workspace and freedom from interruption their company provides (Sixty-two percent of the best performers said their work space was sufficiently private). Through the research on the study, Cain shows us just how essential privacy is to ours creativity and productivity. Its w ithout a doubt that privacy has a lot of influences on ones performance. Just like the programmers, our minds need their private time to think, to be more creative. By having the privacy and the comfortable space as needed, ones productivity will increase dramatically. But, despite having such important factors, introversion still fall short in the race with group brainstorming of being the thinking trend of the society. Susan Cain also states this situation in Rise of the New Groupthink: Solitude is out of fashion. Most of us now work in teams, in offices without walls, for managers who prize people skills above all. Lone geniuses are out. Collaboration is in. The question is why? Why group brainstorming got so much credit but introversion wont? The reasons are that society now sees group working as a good way for people to learn how to work with others, make them feel more comfortable when working with other people, and furthermore, make better decision than the decision that an individual makes. However, various studies actually go against this statement. Studies show that offices with no private work space for workers actually make them uncomfortable, distracted and insecure. Theyre also easier to suffer from stress and exhaustion due to people watching everything they do. The studies also show that people who works in easy distracted environment make 50 percent more mistakes and take twice as long to finish it. For those reasons, introversion shows its superior sides over group working. But, for the society to realizes and give more credits for introversion, might take quite a long time. Through the course of a society that keeps advancing and developing, introversion plays a big role in making all of it comes true. But now, as group working increases, introversion is gradually being left out. If one day introversion is completely gone, there will not only limited the rate of creativeness within the society, but also our youth might never know how helpful introversion is to their creativity. And without the young generations creativity, the future ahead will not be bright. Work Cited Cain, Susan. The Rise of the New Groupthink. The New York Times. The New York Times, 14 Jan. 2012. Web. 16 Feb. 2017. . Maryellen, Weimer, Phd . Five Things Students Can Learn through Group Work. Faculty Focus | Higher Ed Teaching Learning. N.p., 24 Aug. 2016. Web. 16 Feb. 2017. . Cook, Gareth. The Power of Introverts: A Manifesto for Quiet Brilliance. Scientific American. N.p., 24 Jan. 2012. Web. 16 Feb. 2017. . Susan, Cain. The Rise of the New Groupthink and the Power of Working Alone. The Rise of the New Groupthink and the Power of Working Alone. Susan Cain, 3 June 2015. Web. 16 Feb. 2017. .

The Use Of Child Soldiers In Warfare Criminology Essay

The Use Of Child Soldiers In Warfare Criminology Essay When looked back upon our childhood, memories of playgrounds, games and friends are often remembered, not even in our darkest nightmares would we imagine having to fight in warfare. Instead of playing sports, many children are forced to carry weapons, act as spies, decoys, and assassins. In addition to traditional warfare, children clear minefields, act as suicide bombers, and serve as messengers and sex slaves. Almost 5,000 children are still in military groups within Sierra Leone, and Myanmar, also known as Burma, holds an estimated 50,000 child soldiers. Despite the fact that many humanitarian organizations like UNICEF and CARE (Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere) have focused on this issue for decades, it is only in the last few years that international media organizations started sending pictures of eight-year-old children carrying AK-47s in the jungle of Sudan to the living rooms of people in the United States and Europe. In the last decade, more than two million children have been killed due to participation in warfare. An astounding forty-one countries in the world have children under the age of 18, and sometimes much younger are used in warfare by rebel groups and even by governments. They are denied basic human rights and are often abused terribly, and the practice of training young children to destroy and kill perpetuates cycles of violence in war-torn countries. The chronic problem occurs when former child soldiers are rehabilitated into society and are unable to socially adapt with other people, for example, shell shock. Despite this sad reality that child soldiers face, it remains very difficult to enforce child soldier laws on an international, national and regional laws. When countries release child soldiers from military service, they often lack the resources to help them through the transition. Trained in war, children are psychologically damaged and need rehabilitation. They are often ost racized by their own families or communities. They will often return to violence unless they receive help. The Problem in Sudan Sudan, the largest country in Africa, with more than 10,000 children serving in military organizations, clearly illustrates all of the issues facing children in warfare. The Juvenile Care Council Sudanese, an official government agency, often takes children into custody directly off the street. Children out running errands or playing are scooped up and quickly forced into military camps. The government does not attempt to notify a childs family, who may not see the child again for several years. If a child manages to escape the clutches of the military, he or she is at risk of being picked up by the other side, Sudans rebel armyà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬the Sudan Peoples Liberation Army (SPLA). Childrens rights while they are serving as soldiers in Sudan are violated in a number of ways. Beyond the forcible capture, reports indicate that while in government custody children are denied their rights of religious freedom and forced to take a Muslim name and to convert to Islam. On the other side, the SPLA rebel organization often recruits with promises of food and then forces its new recruits to walk hundreds of miles from their homes. The problems in Sudan are deep rooted. The government denies any use of children and instead points to a Sudanese law that prohibits the recruitment of anyone under the age of eighteen into the military. the rebel group SPLA is hidden in the shadows of the country and out of the control of the government, international observers, and aid workers. Forced Recruitment Schools become a source of military manpower, and government forces as well as rebel forces often snatch children right from their desks. Although this kind of abduction is a common tactic, it is rarely documented and therefore difficult to regulate. During their recruitment children often experience extreme brutality, such as being forced to witness or participate in their parents executions, or suffering beatings from their captors. Tragically, in addition to losing their families, many lose their identity as they are forced to forget their names, ages, and the towns or villages they came from. Obedience Once captured, drafted, or volunteered, a child undergoes training that is often incredibly brutal and intended to desensitize him or her to violence and ensure compliance. Reports in Central America found that children are forced to kill animals and drink their blood. They are burned with cigarettes, beaten, verbally abused, and even killed if they resist. Children are also taught to abuse and kill each other for disobedience. Resistance to abide orders and attempts to escape are met with brutality, often losing an ear or limb for their actions. Since a childs home community may associate such injuries with violent rebel groups, the community often rejects the child, these scars in themselves can prevent children from returning home. In addition, child combatants often suffer from post-traumatic stress and may continue their violence outside of war, withdraw from social interactions, and suffer from nightmares and hallucinations. A child who has witnessed violence and brutality may need assistance in healing from guilt, anger, fear, and hatred to lessen the chances that he or she will return to violence. In many cases child soldiers have been written off as a lost generation with no hope of emotional and physical rehabilitation. Debating the Numbers Overall, the lack of agreement on the age of majority poses an obstacle for counting the number of children soldiers and also for establishing international guidelines to prevent child militias. estimates on the numbers of children active in some capacity of war range from 87 countries with close to one million children in combat, to 30 countries with 300,000 children active in war. Why Children? Causes and Consequences Economic Conditions: Economics also play a crucial role in the formation of child soldiers as families with the lowest incomes are most vulnerable to military recruiters and abductors. Lack of education, the inability to pay off the recruiters, being orphaned, the need of the family for income from the military, and many other factors of poverty make a child easy prey to harsh and dangerous military involvement. Children who grow up in poverty without clean water, safe shelter, and education are the most vulnerable. Forced recruitment tends to target poorer children. While poverty-stricken families have few resources and little recourse for finding and retrieving a child taken by a military organization, wealthier families can send their children out of the country for educational purposes, bribe authorities to release their child, or buy out their childs obligation to a military operation. in Sudan, the SPLA provides grand illusions of food and safety, causing parents to relinquish their children freely because they believe their lives may actually be better in a militia. On the other side, children appeal to military groups who are strapped for resources. They tend to be more economical, since they eat less and demand lower wages, if they are even paid. If a child is paid he may earn an important salary and contribute to the well-being and continued existence of an entire family. Political Situations: There are a variety of reasons why children are dragged into this horrific lifestyle and are unable to escape. Many of these reasons are internal conflicts, which may include ethnic conflicts, revenge for murdered family members and even due to propaganda promoting violence. However, the most likely reason is due to a shortage of adult fighters because of many long years of civil wars within war-torn countries. Government publicity actions in times of war can be an additional source of the problem. The use of parades, propaganda, rallies, and even anthems and pledges teach children that war is an honorable activity and that soldiers have exciting and rewarding duties. Good Things Come in Small Packages Unfortunately, the very nature of childrenà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬not being fully grown either physically or emotionallyà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬plays a contributing factor. physical size often contributes to capture; kids are easier to transport than adults. Children are also less likely to attract suspicion and can easily plant bombs and engage in intelligence-gathering operations. If apprehended, children often face less harsh punishments from the law than do their adult counterparts. An additional benefit for a military or rebel group is that adult soldiers of the other side may not fire on child soldiers. The International Arms Trade The international trade in small arms is intricately tied to the issue of children in warfare. Technology has in recent years created smaller guns, plastic explosives, hand grenades, and overall lighter weapons. Children are more able to handle the new instruments of warfare. For example, assault rifles like the Russian-built AK-47 and the American M-16 are easy to carry and to use. These new weapons are also less expensive. The United Nations Research Institute for Social Development found that in some African countries the guns sell for US$6 apiece. Some observers argue that countries that sell these weapons aggravate the problem as they continue their very profitable sale of small arms to governments or groups supported by governments who employ children as combatants. Preventions: Crime without Punishment Despite the fact that popular international attention is only beginning to focus on children in armed conflict, efforts to prevent children from participating in warfare are more than 70 years old. The issues revolve around what rights children have, if these rights compete with the rights of parents, and what rights countries have to form and recruit their own militaries. The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child prohibits the forced recruitment of all children under 18, yet still allows a government to accept volunteers at 16. The United States, like most countries, argues that it is its sovereign right to form an army of its choosing. Recent History and the Future The Future of Children in Combat: Good News and Bad Depending on where you look, the future for preventing the involvement of children in warfare is encouraging. In the spring of 2001 the SPLA in Sudan released 3,500 children to UNICEF, and in August 2001 all but 70 returned to their homes. A recent poll of Americans found that 75 percent of people surveyed felt that child survival should be both an American and an international priority. there are hundreds of international organizations and non-governmental organizations working on monitoring the use of children in warfare, negotiating their treatment while in combat, and assisting in their reintroduction to civilian life. Organizations like UNICEF, UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees), the International Committee for the Red Cross, the World Food Program, and the International Rescue Committee, as well as private groups like Save the Children and CARE, employ hundreds of doctors, counselors, and researchers to address this problem. Children often prove themselves very adaptable. With medical attention, counseling, and vocational training, many former soldiers return to a normal life. In Sierra Leone, one representative from Amnesty International reports that the majority of them have really improved they are back in schools. Once they are in the right environment, we start to see the change very quickly.

Language in Jamaica Kincaids Autobiography of My Mother Essay

Use of Language in The Autobiography of My Mother  Ã‚  Ã‚   Language. It is the way words flow into sentences, which flow into paragraphs, which flow into novels. It is the ability of the author to create an intricate web of plot, emotion, symbolism, and relationships through only words. In The Autobiography of My Mother , Jamaica Kincaid uses language in a way that is very simplistic, yet highly effective. Her writing is direct and to the point. There is neither flowery wording not complex sentence structure. Without the distractions of overflowing language, the depth of Kincaid's material comes through with particular effectiveness. It is the simplest of writing elements, that of repetition and opposition, that Kincaid uses to create a novel rich in language and eloquence. The most prominent linguistic aspect of the novel is its lack of dialogue. There is not one line of dialogue throughout the entire novel. This reliance on narration accomplishes several things for Kincaid's protagonist, Xuela Claudette Richardson. First, it allows Xuela to be defined by no one but herself. There...

Essay on Social Conventions in Jane Eyre and Hedda Gabler

Social Conventions in Jane Eyre and Hedda Gabler   Ã‚  Ã‚   Charlotte Bronte's novel Jane Eyre and Henrik Ibsen's play Hedda Gabler were written within fifty years of each other in the late 1800s. Both Jane and Hedda exist within the same social contexts. They are women of the middle class in European cultures. The fact Jane is penniless through much of the novel does not exclude her from the middle class. Jane and Hedda's experiences, education and values all belong to the middle class. Therefore it should be no surprise their words echo. In detail and outcome their stories are different. However, it is the constraints of the same social conventions which drive their different destinies. It is the same confusion of social convention with morality and spirituality that pains both their existences. Confusing social convention with legal, moral, and religious codes of conduct is a phenomena not confined to the 19th century. It is this same confusion that created Jim Crow Laws, anti-gay legislation and fuels the fire of the abortion rights debate.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Social conventions of the 1800's did not allow women of the middle class to live independently. With few exceptions women moved from father's household to husband's household. It was the father's prerogative to arrange a suitable marriage. In truth there might be a carefully selected few to choose from, but any unauthorized selection would hold severe consequences for both men and women.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Jane Eyre's mother was disowned because she chose to marry an "unapproved" man. Jane would suffer because of this transgression, which occurred before she was even born. After being orphaned, Jane lives with her Aunt Reed. She is continually reminded she is a dependent and is unloved by her r... ...ton: Prentice Hall, 1992.    Ellis, Kate and Kaplan, Ann. Nineteenth Century Women at the Movies: Adapting Classic Women’s Fiction to Film. Bowling Green, OH: Popular, 1999    Jane Eyre. Dir. Christy Cabanne. Perf. Virginia Bruce, Colin Clive, and Beryl Mercer. 1934.    Jane Eyre. Dir. Franco Zeffirelli. Perf. William Hurt, Charlotte Gainsborough, and Anna Paquin. 1996    Jane Eyre. Dir. Julian Aymes. Perf. Timothy Dalton, Zelah Clarke. 1983    Jane Eyre. Dir. Robert Stevenson. Perf. Joan Fontaine, Orson Welles, and Margaret O’Brien. 1944    Peters, Joan D. â€Å"Finding a Voice: Towards a Woman’s Discourse in Dialogue in the Narration of Jane Eyre.† Studies in the Novel. 23 no 2. (1991): 217-36.    Zonana, Joyce. â€Å"The Sultan and the Slave: Feminist Orientalism and the Structure of Jane Eyre.† Signs. 18 no 3. (1993): 592-617

Increase In Suicide And Crime Among Youth

The headlines of one of the leading newspapers often goes like, â€Å"A professor beaten to death by his own students†. Going through such headlines has become a routine affair for us. The country is plagued by many catastrophic, socio-economic issues like poverty, terrorism, illiteracy and corruption. The involvement of the youth in overcoming these problems is of great importance. The youth, in a rising nation like ours, plays a strong role in bringing reforms to restructure the nation. They protest and demand what is best for the nation.However, lately, in order to earn quick bucks and the need to fulfil their dreams and desires at the earliest, young people have resorted to unlawful means to achieve them. Is the future of the nation becoming its own destructor? According to the National Crime Records Bureau, 44 per cent of the arrested criminals belong to the age group of 10 to 30 years, which is the ‘youth’ There is a section of the youth who have been achiev ing their goals through unlawful means. Crimes ranging from thefts to kidnapping, murders, rape and sex scandals involve such people. The crime rate has been drastically increasing.Why has the youth of this nation become so pugnacious? Is it due to under-employment or the lack of law enforcement in the country? On one hand, we are fighting to reduce the minimum age of consumption of alcohol while on the other, we are consuming it, driving recklessly and killing people. We are raising our voices on women’s safety and we are the one raping them. Youngsters belonging to well-to-do families have also been caught in cases of hacking bank accounts. According to leading psychiatrists, the lack of adequate opportunities frustrates young people to an extent where they use any method possible to attain success.Many also believe that youngsters who take the path of crime are the troubled ones. This could be true in some of the cases but people in their 20s, committing a murder over who should get a prantha first is something beyond imagination, as seen in an incident that occurred at midnight in a posh area of South Delhi. Such cases are endless. Many cases like sexual assaults and minor rapes go unreported and the youngsters feel free to commit the same again. Even the judicial system shows leniency towards the accused and no stern action is taken.It is time for the country to revamp its judicial system and processes. Most of the accused are not afraid of being caught after committing the crime. The criminals know that their case will simply pile up with the rest of the cases and by the time the punishment is announced, they might not even exist. Further, the government should take appropriate measures to revive the economy so that employment opportunities are created, not just in metros but in rural areas as well. An alarming report on increasing suicides in India is calling for urgent intervention and rethinking of our system.What's wrong with Indians? Our coun try had shown the world the path to eternal happiness. And, now, Indians are an unhappy lot!†¦ If you probe further deeper into reasons, you will see many cultural, genetic and religious factors Young people in India are committing suicide at a much higher rate than in the West, says The Lancet report, entitled Suicide Mortality in India released on June 23, June 2012. The first ever national survey of deaths in India found that some 56 percent of all women who took their own lives in 2010 and 40 percent of men were aged between 15 and 29.The suicide rates are highest in the 15-29 age groups, peaking in southern states that are considered richer and more developed with better education, social welfare and health care. Opportunities that have come with two decades of economic boom and open markets have also brought more job anxiety, higher expectations and more pressure to achieve, mental health experts said. This is calling for urgent intervention and rethinking of our institut ion called India or Bharat. Added to it, many suicide cases still go unreported as people hide what is still an illegal act in India.The higher rates may come from â€Å"the greater likelihood of disappointments when aspirations that define success and happiness are distorted or unmet by the reality faced by young people in a rapidly changing society,† said Dr. Vikram Patel, one of the report's authors. He also noted online social networking was making â€Å"loneliness more common. † He admits his conclusion is conjecture, but says â€Å"I cannot think of any more plausible explanation. † People in his neighborhood remember Kunju Shivankutty as a likable youth.But the 20-year-old, from Manjeri in North Kerala, was troubled deeply by having failed three times to pass the admissions testfor a government-run engineering college. On August 15th, 2011, coinciding with India's Independence Day, Shivankutty wrote a letter to his parents. â€Å"I am sorry, Acchan-Amma (Dad-Mum), for not having been a good son. I could not fulfill your dreams for me. I let you down before the relatives. Shame is the only feeling I have at present and I can’t bear it any more. Please forget about me†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Then he hung himself.His father Parameswaran, a transport companyemployee, had invested heavily in his son's education, hoping the boy could lift the family's circumstances by becoming a career engineer – a sure road to middle-class prosperity. Such familial pressure, however, can push a young person to the breaking point. â€Å"The case of failing one's parents, or not succeeding in meeting targets set by the family, is one of the chief reasons for young Malayalis [a Kerala ethnic group] taking the extreme step â€Å"I was weak, I thought I could be strong but I was weak! I was so so weak, the fault is my own.Hope something good happens with my death. I have left the building† These are not words from a Chetan Bhagat best seller thou gh I wish they were. These were the last words of Nitin Kumar Reddy before he flung himself from his hostel roof at IIT Madras. As India celebrates year on year economic growth we have started putting a lot of pressure on our youth. In our rush to win we have crushed the hopes and aspirations of our youth. We have started a race to win at all costs. In 2009, almost 3000 children below the age of 14 committed suicide. If we look at the 15-25 age group the number jumps to 50,000.But the scariest statistic is that for every successful suicide there are almost 14 unsuccessful attempts. Clearly the youth of our country are in distress. But the symptoms are there to see †¢ Toddlers are made to compete in talent shows. †¢ Teenagers are entering singing and dancing competitions †¢ High school students go through a grueling schedule to balance school curriculum with preparation for entrances to elite institutions like the IITs. Who is responsible for this? Who killed Nitin? So me people might say it is the system that is responsible for this, but aren’t we responsible for creating this system.We are forever drawing comparisons between our children and the others and this is just leading to a unsustainable situation. Is this what we have been reduced to? Is that what we want? To compete and win at all costs. A recent survey showed that almost 85% of parents in urban India do not allow children to take up professions of their choice. This is probably the greatest reason for stress among India’s youth, being stuck in professions that they don’t enjoy or are not suited for. Like I said we all know what the symptoms are, but the challenge is to treat the disease and not the symptom.How can wechange the situation for our children and the youth of tomorrow? I propose these four steps. 1. Identify- The key is to listen, observe and identify activities that the kids enjoy and are attracted to. Which activity draws them more, what they enjoy do ing? 2. Analyze- based on our observations, we need to map the activities and likes of the child to sustainable careers that that activity can sustain. If we are not experts in that field, there is a high possibility that there is someone in our network that will know someone. Also councilors both in school and outside can be used for the same.3. Decide- Once the mapping has been done, we can decide on a few career choices of the child’s liking and also something where his passion lies. 4. Monitor- Once the decision has been made it is important to monitor the children. Often they grow and once they grow their preferences change, it is important to monitor those changes and incorporate that into their plan. People are usually very good at what they do, once they enjoy it. A good example is cricketer Sachin Tendulkar who enjoys cricket and has been the best for the last 20 years..A few weeks ago, I got a text from my friend saying that a guy, who had been my classmateduring hi gh school, had committed suicide. I seriously thought that this friend was playing a prank on me. Later I discovered the truth. He did commit suicide. I had always seen this guy to be one with great self-esteem and self-confidence. Then why out of nowhere should he take this decision. That was all people spoke for a couple of months. Everyone had only one question. The same question, to be exact. Why? Now thinking about this issue of suicide, I did a little research and the results I got were too shocking.Statistics show that every five minutes, someone, somewhere in India, attempts suicide. This makes suicide the third major cause of death. Also, annually more than 1,00,000 people commit suicide in India, of which one-thirds are youth. Diverse backgrounds, diverse goals and diverse opinions! But same decision! Today, the youth in India form one of the most vulnerable groups, who on the one hand are expected to be the leaders, the backbone of tomorrow’s India, while on the ot her hand, are a browbeaten and baffled cluster.There is an imbalance between the youth population and the limited opportunities for admission in schools and colleges, and specifically in professional courses. This puts the youth under great pressure. First class and second class are hardly adequate results anymore. Parents are helpless too, as both public and private institutions have caused economic burden to them. If you think getting admission is the toughest thing that youth can ever experience, rethink! Placements are another hell. You need to get everything right.And even after getting placed, the comparison in relation to the pay received, causes all the more pain. A person with the pleasure of working but with limited salary is certainly not welcome in this society. People have come to a point where they are ready to trade their work pleasure for money. Tough deadlines and hectic work atmosphere have taken the lives of many youth. Friendships and relationships have also play ed equal parts in this gamble for life. Youth are too sensitive to sort any sort of relationship problem.The problem may be anything; fight with best friends, bitter misunderstanding with girlfriend/ boyfriend followed by an even bitter break-up, family issues with parents fighting over their lives or over financial issues. But the youth are greatly affected. They bundle up all these grievances in their hearts and eventually give their hearts a complete rest so they will never have to face the same, again. I am blaming all. There are plenty of youth who have followed their heart to be what they wanted to be. But the fact that this suicide virus is taking away the lives of millions of youth is alarming.Something has to be done to cripple it. In battle between the thirst to have their dream life and the urge to fulfill the expectation of the society, many are shattered. While a very few regain their stand, the rest take the ultimate decision of ending their lives. When they have the g uts to face the pain of ending their lives for one moment, why aren’t they having the same guts for a moment longer to face the battle? If a person is disturbed, all that has to be done is just talk. Words can do wonders, even help see beyond the mist. And you will never know what marvels are awaiting you!

Growing Pain Essay

So by the end of 1992, Waterway had begun selling its own line of compact, inexpensive, high-impact plastic kayaks. Within one quarter, Maher had known that the move had been a smart one. Almost all of Waterway’s existing canoe customers— mostly wholesalers who then sold to liveries and sporting goods stores—had placed sizable kayak orders. A number of private-label entities had also inquired about Waterway, and Maher was considering producing privatelabel kayaks for those companies on a limited basis. For the most part, the staff had adjusted easily to the company’s faster pace. The expanded business hadn’t changed Waterway’s informal work style, and people seemed to appreciate that. Maher knew that most of his employees were avid outdoor types who viewed their jobs as a means to an end, and he respected that perspective. On days when the weather was particularly good, he knew that the building would be pretty empty by 4 P. M. But he also knew that his employees liked their jobs. Work was always completed on time, and people were outspoken with new ideas and with suggestions for improving current designs and processes. There was no mistaking the genuine camaraderie. Maher walked through the design room, stopping to talk with one of the two designers and to admire the latest drawings. Then he headed for the administrative suite. His thoughts returned to the company’s recent history. Until 1990, Waterway’s sales and revenues had increased with the market, and Maher hadn’t been motivated to push any harder. But when he had decided to venture into kayaking, he also had thought he should gear up marketing— get ready for the big trend if it came. Until then, there had never been a formal, structured marketing department at Waterway. He had thought it was time. That’s why he had hired Lee Carter. Carter had gotten her M. B. A. when she was 31. To do so, she had left a fast-track position in sales at Waterway’s major competitor in the canoe market to devote her full attention to her studies. Finch, who was something of a mentor for Carter, had told her that she would hit the ceiling too early in her career if she didn’t have the credentials to compete in her field. In her final term at business school, which had included a full course load plus a demanding internship with the Small Business Administration, Carter had interviewed ith Waterway. Finch had called to introduce her, but once Maher had met her and she had begun to outline the ways in which she could improve the company’s sales and marketing efforts, Maher had needed no other references. He had thought from the start that Carter might be the right person to nurture the company’s interest in the growing kayaking business and to run with it if the sp ort’s popularity really took off. When it had, he was proved right. True, the market was extremely favorable, but Carter had brought in more orders than even Maher had thought possible. Fortunately, the company had been able to keep up by contracting with other manufacturing companies for more product. Waterway had been extremely effective in keeping inventory in line with customer demand. Maher was impressed with Carter’s performance. From day one, she had been completely focused. She traveled constantly— worked so hard that she barely had time to get to know the staff. She came in on weekends to catch up with paperwork. Along with two of her direct reports, she had even missed the annual Waterway picnic; the three had been on the road, nailing down a large order. It was a dedication—a level of energy—that Maher had never seen before, and he liked what it said about his company. Back in his office, Maher found that he couldn’t concentrate on the product development report in front of him. That bit of conversation he had overheard outside Carter’s office was troubling. He certainly knew about the lucrative packages that were being offered in the sporting goods industry—even in Waterway’s niche. He’d even heard that some sales managers were commanding a quarter of a million dollars or more. He had read enough of the annual reports of his publicly traded competitors to know that larger organizations created all sorts of elaborate systems—supplemental retirement packages, golden handcuffs, stock options, deferred compensation arrangements— to hold on to their top performers. harvard business review †¢ july–august 1996 page 2 Growing Pains †¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¢ †¢HBR C AS E S TUDY â€Å"The business could stand to pay more,† Maher said, â€Å"but I want to avoid the habit of paying now for results down the road. † Maher wanted to recognize Carter’s contribution.

Research Paper on Crohn’s Disease Essay

Crohn’s disease is an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). It causes inflammation of the lining of your digestive tract, which can lead to abdominal pain, severe diarrhea and even malnutrition. Inflammation caused by Crohn’s disease can involve different areas of the digestive tract in different people. The inflammation caused by Crohn’s disease often spreads deep into the layers of affected bowel tissue. Like ulcerative colitis, another common IBD, Crohn’s disease can be both painful and debilitating, and sometimes may lead to life-threatening complications. Although it may involve any part of the digestive tract from the mouth to the anus, it most commonly affects the last part of the small intestine (ileum) and/or the large intestine (colon and rectum). Any age group may be affected, but the majority of patients are young adults between 16 and 40 years old. Crohn’s disease occurs most commonly in people living in northern climates. It affects men and women equally and appears to be common in some families. About 20 percent of people with Crohn’s disease have a relative, most often a brother or sister, and sometimes a parent or child, with some form of inflammatory bowel disease. Patients with Crohn’s disease can feel pain; the condition makes the intestines empty frequently, resulting in diarrhea. Crohn’s disease is not contagious, but it does have a slight genetic (inherited) tendency. An x-ray study of the small intestine may be used to diagnose Crohn’s disease. The exact cause of this disease is unknown. Crohn’s disease symptoms will often vary depending on which part of the gut is affected. When the wall of the affected part of the gut is inflamed, the patient may experience the following symptoms: Pain – the level of pain varies according to the patient, and where the inflammation is in the gut. Most commonly, pain will be felt at the lower-right side of the abdomen; because the majority of inflammations are locate in the ileum (lower end of the small intestine).Ulcers in the gut – ulcers are raw areas in the gut that may bleed. If they do bleed the patient may notice blood in his/her stools .Mouth ulcers – mouth ulcers are commonly experienced by people with Crohn’s disease. Diarrhea – can be mild to very severe. Sometimes there may be mucus, blood. The patient may want to go and find there is nothing to pass. Fatigue – patients with Crohn’s disease may  sometimes feel extremely tired. Fever is also possible during fatigue. Altered appetite – generally, people with Crohn’s disease have periods when their appetite is very low. Weight loss – this is common, especially when the patient experiences loss of appetite. Anemia – if the patient is losing blood there is a risk of anemia. Rectal bleeding and anal fissures – when the skin of the anus becomes cracked there will be anal fissures. These may become painful and can bleed. There is no â€Å"cure† for Crohn’s disease, but medical therapy with one or more drugs provides a means to treat early Crohn’s disease and relieve its symptoms. The most common drugs prescribed are corticosteroids, such as prednisone and methylprednisolone, and various anti-inflammatory agents. The main treatment for Crohn’s disease is medicine to stop the inflammation in the intestine and medicine to prevent flare-ups and keep the individual in remission. Treatment may include medications, surgery, nutrition supplementation, or a combination of these options; these are some of the medications used in the treatment: Anti-inflammation medications, Cortisone or steroids, Immune system suppressors, Biological therapies, Antibiotics, Anti-diarrheal medications and fluid replacements. Children with Crohn’s disease may need high-calorie liquid formulas, especially if their growth is being affected. The majority of Crohn’s disease patients will nee d surgery at some time. When medications no longer control symptoms the only solution sometimes is to operate. Surgery can relieve symptoms that did not respond to medication, or to correct complications, such as abscess, perforation, bleeding, and blockage. Removing part of the intestine can help, but it does not cure Crohn’s disease. Inflammation often returns to the area next to where the affected part of the gut was removed. Some Crohn’s disease patients may require more than one operation during their lives. Hypnotherapy is a healing approach that creates a state of deep relaxation and heightened concentration. A report published in 2000 indicates that hypnotherapy shows promise as a means of improving immune function and relieving symptoms in people with Crohn’s disease In a 2004 study, patients with mild to moderately active Crohn’s disease had a decrease in disease activity after receiving 10 sessions of acupuncture (a needle-based therapy long used to treat inflammatory bowel disease in traditional Chinese  medicine). In addition to taking medications an d making dietary changes, certain lifestyle changes may help those with Crohn’s disease. Living with the condition often means making changes such as quitting the use of tobacco products and reducing stress. People with Crohn’s disease may also benefit from receiving counseling or support. your diet to control your symptoms. You might need to: Limit dairy products, try low-fat foods Experiment with how much protein and fiber you eat avoid problem â€Å"gassy† foods and eat smaller and more frequent meals. Many people with Crohn’s are lactose intolerant. Luckily, there’s a great dairy alternative: almond milk, which is made from ground-up almonds and can be fortified to contain as much calcium as regular milk. Exercise helps people with Crohn’s disease, both in terms of maintaining health and reducing stress. Exercise is considered safe for people with Crohn’s disease, but anyone with a chronic illness should talk to their doctor before starting a new exercise or fitness regimen. It is especially important for people with Crohnâ⠂¬â„¢s disease to drink water before and during exercise to prevent dehydration. Avoid extreme changes in body temperature during exercise. Citations Wong, C. (2012, September 19). Natural Remedies for Crohn’s Disease. Alternative Medicine – Everything You Need to Know About Alternative Medicine. Retrieved January 14, 2013, from http://altmedicine.about.com/od/crohnsdisease/a/crohns_alttherapies.htm N.P. (2009, May 28). â€Å"What Is Crohn’s Disease? What Causes Crohn’s Disease?.† Medical News Today. Retrieved from http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/151620.php. Ehrlich, S. (2012, December 31). Crohn’s disease. University of Maryland Medical Center | Home. Retrieved January 15, 13, from http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/crohns-disease-000043.htm